5 Doubts That Keep You Away From Your Goals

There are so many things we need to do and responsibilities to take care of on a daily basis.

Even though some of them are necessary or vital to our well-being, the rest are merely distractions that derail us from our goals; whether those are personal or professional.

Here we will cover the main doubts and obstacles that we are facing on a daily basis as well as ways to overcome them.

Consider that you want to learn how to play the piano or guitar, learn how to speak a language or even find a new job. With the amount of time we are given per day and the mental deadlines we put to ourselves, achieving these seems difficult.

So, what are these difficulties that keep us away from our objectives?

The so-called difficulties are purely disguised as doubts that we face on a regular basis when thinking about achieving something.

Let’s look at the 5 doubts that may keep you away from achieving your goals in life:

5 Doubts That Keep You Away From Your Goals

1. There is so much that needs to get done

Not every task should be treated equally. When trying to achieve a goal, we should not be paying attention to things that may disrupt our productivity.

Essentially, you need to make sure that you make clear decisions on the priorities of actions.

What this means is that instead of having a to-do list, you should be looking at a success list; a list created for the purpose to successfully complete tasks that takes you one step closer to your goal.

If the list was built around chores you need to do around the house let’s say, you would never be able to achieve your true goals.

The trick in achieving this is that you would need to pause enough to decide what matters the most and then let it show you the way (for that day, week, month etc.).

Remember, prioritizing key tasks is crucial.

Sometimes however, prioritizing is not enough. You would also need to eliminate tasks. Make sure to assess the importance of actions you have prioritized for doing and eliminate the ones you don’t need (at least for now).

In other words, you will achieve your goal(s) by prioritizing important tasks and eliminating the trivial ones.

“Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.” - Johan Wolfgang von Goethe

2. If I do everything at the same time, I will do them faster

Have you ever realized that you can’t properly listen and respond to a discussion if you are doing something else at the same time, e.g. texting?

That’s because your brain cannot multitask effectively. What this means is that even if you can do the trivial stuff such as iron and watch TV, the important stuff cannot get done quickly and in the right way.

For example, you could never focus properly on writing an outstanding CV or Resume, while listening to an interesting podcast.

‘Multitasking’ was essentially coined with the introduction of computers. People back then thought that the computer was multitasking while computing multiple equations at the same time.

However, even back then this was not entirely accurate, as what the computer was doing was alternatively sharing one resource (the CPU).

We have to note though that multitasking has become a prerequisite in today’s world, as almost every single employer would expect you to have it as a skill.

Remember to include it as part of your skill-set when talking to clients or business owners; but that doesn’t mean that you necessarily need to follow it as a rule when in pursuit of a goal.

If you continue doing many things at the same time you will distort your sense of how long it takes you to complete tasks.

The way to work around this is to simply focus all your energy and mind into the task you decided to do without any distractions (and for a certain period of time).

Make sure to identify your distractions, those may be a video gaming console, a TV, a phone, other people around you, and avoid them. Avoid them until you are done completing the task.

"Work is hard. Distractions are plentiful. And time is short." - Adam Hochschild

3. Do I have the discipline?

Most people don’t have the disciple to do something that take them to their final goal. The ones that do, only seem to have it.

In other words, they make it look like self-discipline where in fact, it’s a routine or habit they follow.

What you would need in order to give the illusion of self-discipline to others is push yourself until it becomes a habit. For example, if you push yourself to run-jog on a daily basis, after some time it will become a habit.

Once it’s a habit you will even realise that you don’t feel comfortable when not doing it.

Creating habits this way will liberate you from the constant psychological pressure of ‘having’ to do stuff. You shall go through a beautiful transition of creating a routine. A routine that will help you develop yourself, learn something new, achieve something great.

Note however, that this also works in a negative self-destructive ways without even having to push yourself, e.g. excessive drinking on a regular basis (the results are obvious).

Remember, you can achieve your personal or professional objectives with less discipline than you expect.

Achieving these is about doing the right thing which has the sole purpose of helping you through the journey.

“It’s one of the most prevalent myths of our culture: self-discipline.” - Leo Babauta

4. I need to have a balanced life

Balanced life is almost a far-fetched dream. Yes, it can become a reality, but not when you are striving for something extraordinary.

To achieve your objectives in life, you need to understand that sometimes, if not always, hard work for long periods of time is necessary.

I only refer to sacrificing time that would normally go to activities that do not add any value to your final goal.

In essence, this requires you to get out of balance in relation to all other ‘no-value adding’ tasks while acting on priority. You simply can’t build a fence in a day or week if you keep tending to other chores.

Get out of balance, focus on that activity, avoid distractions and spend the time the task requires independently of how long that is.

"Success in no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing." - Pele

5. I shouldn’t dream big

You should always dream big; considering that you are doing something about it.

Many people are becoming intimidated by the size and greatness of their dream and simply choose a smaller one.

If looking at achieving your goal, a goal that is new and great to you, make sure to always aim higher.

As I like to think, if you want to reach the moon, aim for Mars. When you do reach the moon, do the same for reaching Mars.

Reaching your goals in life, no matter how big they are, only requires action, one small step at a time. Once achieved, you will then look back and laugh at how easy it was in comparison to how difficult you thought it would be.

Something that was once incomprehensible as an idea, will become reality through small actionable steps. No professional player, actor, author, manager became what they are now in one night and with minimum effort.

Act and persevere.

“We are kept from our goal, not by obstacles but by a clear path to a lesser goal.” - Rober Braurt

Summary

To recap, here is the list of 5 different doubts that keep you away from your goals in life:

“There is so much that needs to get done.”

“If I do everything at the same time, I will do them faster.”

“Do I have the discipline?”

“I need to have a balanced life.”

“I shouldn’t dream big.”

Have you found other ways to eliminate the obstacles that derail you from your goals? Tell us how by leaving a comment below.

About the Author

Marios Kokolakis is the Content Manager at BrainSharp. His goal? To motivate and help people live a healthier and happier life by sharing his passion for fitness and nutrition, and igniting the inner spark to achieving life goals.